Books are like magic carpet wings
That whisk us off to far-flung strands
Of fabulous emperors and Kings
In colorful, romantic lands...
Books are ships that sail away
To distant harbors, stormy seas,
Plying between our port Today
And all the bygone centuries...
Books are platforms and bright stages
With poems, plays, and pageantry,
Recording words of seers and sages
To edify Posterity...
Books are wells of living water
For men struggling toward the goal...
Strength for every son and daughter
And refreshment for the soul...
Books are compass, code and chart
To give direction to the mind...
To firm the will and heal the heart
And lift the life of all mankind...
Books are mines of minted gold...
Gold of most enduring worth...
Fortune stored from ages old...
Wealth of mind from all the earth...
Most rich are they who love to read
And know the pleasures innocent...
Each book to them a noble steed
To gallop thru the firmament...
Vincent Godfrey Burns Maryland's Poet Laureate 11/9/1965
Written for the dedication of the Annapolis public library
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